I know, I know! I’ve done a Thrifty Thursday post about the thrift store before. However, I recently was put in the position to make 3 Star Wars costumes for my son, and I couldn’t have done it without my favorite thrift store. Plus, I’m really proud of how well I did under pressure. So, bear with me.

My son was in a Star Wars performance in December. His troupe performed three scenes from Episode IV: A New Hope: the trash compactor, Luke & Leah escaping Stormtroopers by swinging over an abyss, and fighting their way to the Millennium Falcon to escape the Death Star while watching Darth Vader kill Ben Kenobi. B had the rolls of Han Solo (my favorite character out of all 7 movies), a stormtrooper and Ben Kenobi.

After the first meeting when he told me he had 3 parts, I said, “I was prepared to come up with one costume, but three? OK, we’ve got time to try and put these together.” B assured me that the teacher had all the costumes and we didn’t have to provide anything. “Are you sure,” I asked, to which he emphatically said, “Yes.”

Several weeks go by and the day before B’s performance was payday – my run errands, fill the gas tanks and buy groceries day. By mid-afternoon, I had a nagging feeling about the costumes.

Me: “Are you sure that your teacher will be providing everything you need for all 3 of your costumes?”
B: “OH! I forgot to tell you after class last week! Yeah, he thought he had costumes for me but he doesn’t.”
Me (*Blink. Blink, blink. deep breath*): So, you’re telling me that I have to come up with costumes for Han Solo, a stormtrooper and Ben Kenobi with robe, with 21 hours left until your performance?!”
B (Eyes slowly getting as big as saucers as that reality sinks in.): No. No, Ma. It’s my fault. You don’t have to come up with anything! I’ll figure something out. Don’t worry.
Me: No. I can do this! Get in the car!

And off to my favorite thrift store we went! I bought 2 things – a white, mens, long-sleeved shirt and a brown, decorative, womens sweater. Total: $3. (I also found a Ralph Lauren blazer in B’s size, excellent condition, on the $1 rack! I had to buy it.) I found nothing that would work for Ben Kenobi’s hooded robe, but I did find white “Joey Buttafuoco” pants that were white with a black elastic waistband and black trim on the pockets. The white shirt would work as a top for both Han Solo and a stormtrooper and the pants were a little too big for B, so they’d be easy to take on and off over his jeans to switch between the 2 characters. After looking disgustedly at the white pants, however, B decided he didn’t think there’d be enough time for such a “complicated” wardrobe change and would stick to his jeans. ;o)

The white shirt just needed to be washed. I cut the arms off the womens decorative brown sweater, turned it inside out and had Han Solo’s vest. An old cap gun holster was dug out of a toy bin in the bowels of the basement. Han Solo done!

Party City was all out of Stormtrooper masks, but I found a free printable online and printed it out on card stock. I cut it out, cut out the eye holes and used clear packaging tape to attach the mask to B’s favorite sunglasses: they are white and wrap-around. Stormtrooper done!

I walked around the house, looking for something to make Ben Kenobi’s robe and my eyes fell on the heavy, room-darkening curtain we hang at the back door. It’s very drafty at that door and the curtain keeps the cold air out and the heat in. Perfect! I went down to the basement and got the other curtain (bought them as a pair) and draped it over B to get inspiration. I realized I needed something to pinch off the hood of the robe, but the small rubber bands we had would likely break when he put the robe on. So, I used Hickies, these really cool fasteners that B has on his sneakers. Two of them were hooked together about a quarter of the way down. In addition to the robe, I offered to make B one of the felt Jedi uniforms to go under it, like I made for his Jedi Training Academy Birthday Party, but he declined, once again siting time constraints on costume changes. (Evidently Han Solo & Ben Kenobi were in the same scene!). He got one of his lightsabers from the garage and…Ben Kenobi done!

Even if PartyCity had mens Star Wars costumes in stock (or if I’d known weeks earlier that I needed them and ordered them online), I would have spent $39.99 on the Han Solo costume, $4.99 for a stormtrooper mask (or $49.99 for the whole costume) and $19.99 for a robe. But I spent $3 at the thrift store. THAT, plus the fact I did it all in less than 2 hours, is what makes this a great Thrifty Thursday post. ;o)

Like this:

Throwback Thursday! Have a child who LOVES Star Wars? Here are all the details from the Jedi Training Academy Birthday Party I threw B for his 6th birthday. Still don’t know who had more fun – the kids at the party or me planning it!

This sleepover birthday party was as much fun to plan as it was to attend!

After sharing how I did B’s LEGO Building Party for his 9th birthday, I realized I should also share what I did for his 6th birthday – a Star Wars Jedi Training Academy. And it was a sleepover. Once again, thank goodness for the Birthday Party Ideas website! I was actually worried the boys would not enjoy being at B’s party as much I enjoyed planning it. I mean I had so much fun planning and thinking and buying; it was amazing. I did not think I was that kind of party planner. I always thought this kind of attention to detail was the talent of a girlie-girl. You know? Like only a more feminine woman than me could plan a party. But I did it. And each boy said several times that…

Like this:

I had been eyeballing these Star Wars pancake molds from William-Sonoma for years. Even though they are now offered in the WS outlet, I still could not justify the price. Then I found them at a yard sale earlier this year, never been used, still in the packaging, for $2 and I didn’t even haggle over the price. I just knew I was going to get a Mom of the Year award for making Star Wars pancakes for B. Fast forward 2 months – not only had I not made the pancakes, I’d forgotten I even had the molds because I haven’t seen them in so long (read: no idea where I’d put them).

Well, I stumbled upon the molds this morning and decided today was going to be my award presentation day! Um, not so much. Evidently their non-stick coating that made them so easy to remove once one side of the pancakes were cooked did not agree with my pancakes. Intergalactic Breakfast Fail. The thing is, if B had listened to me and stayed out of the kitchen while I was making breakfast, I would have been the only one aware of said fail and I would not feel like I had disappointed him. But, like any smart, cunning child, once told he was to stay away from something, B was convinced the Promised Land awaited him in that kitchen and nothing was keeping him out! So he saw the molds and “ohh’d” and “ahhh’d” and said how excited he was that I was making Stars Wars pancakes. Looking back, I should have know my fate was sealed at that moment, but I was naive and proceeded with the pancakes. Silly, naive me. *shaking my head* So here lies the molds in my kitchen sink, with the pancake batter clinging to the non-stick coating. But look how shiny my sink looks! The Fly Lady would be proud.

So I carried on and made plain, old, boring, round pancakes and sausage for B and eggs and toast for the hubs. B came back into the kitchen to check on the pancakes and I had to tell him that I had failed the Resistance and the Dark Side had won this pancake battle. He took it like the Jedi he is, with no external show of emotion, just a slight lowering of the head in acceptance. He turned away from the sink to exit the kitchen when his eyes fell on the hubs sunny side up eggs on the stove. “Oh, cool, Mom! You made an owl with the eggs!” “Huh? Uhhh….Whyyyy yes, yes I did,” I replied. Well, whadaya know. I received that award after all. I got a big grin, a high five and a hug from my young padawan, who then trotted off to tell the hubs how lucky he was that his wife had made him an owl for breakfast. I stood a little straighter, puffed out my chest and thought, “Who’s Mom of the Year? I am, that’s whooooooo.”

I used the Wilton Ball Cake Pan. Made half Chocolate Fudge Cake and half White Cake for the Light and Dark Sides of The Force.

The chocolate side was heavier than the white side so I put that on the bottom. Shaved a little off so it would not roll. Thin layer of icing so top layer would stick.

Placed the white cake half on top and the ball is complete.

I used the bottom of a paper cut to outline the circle where the laser comes out of the Death Star.

This little serated knife from our pumpkin decorating kit cut out the laser hole at an angle.

Here is the cone-shaped hole cut out.

I used my large pastry bag and icing tip to cover the cake.

Squeezed the icing on and then used a spatula to smooth it out.

Here it is all smooth.

I used dental floss to put a line around the middle and then filled that line in with black gel. Used the same gel for circles in the hole. I didn’t like the black circles and suggest making them with gray, instead.

I used gray icing to decorate rest of the Death Star and used green toothpicks to simulate the laser coming out.